Pages

Friday, April 22, 2016

The Orthodox Church and Culture

To
continue with a theme from the last post, that of the Orthodox Faith bringing a
culture to the highest plane of development, here are a few observations from
Ivan Ilyin on the impact the Orthodox leaven has had on Russia’s
culture down through the years:

. . .

National
spiritual culture is created from generation to generation not by conscious
thought and not through arbitrary chance, but through a long, integral, and
inspired tension of the entire human being; and most of all by an unconscious
instinct, the nocturnal forces of the soul. These mysterious forces of the soul
are capable of spiritual creativity only when they are illuminated, ennobled,
formed, and cultivated by religious faith. History doesn’t know a culturally
creative and spiritually great people that dwelled in godlessness. Even the
lattermost savages have their faith. Falling into unbelief, nations decayed and
died. That the elevation of national culture depends on the perfection of
religion is understandable.

From
time immemorial Russia
was a nation of Orthodox Christianity. Her principal creative
national-linguistic nucleus always confessed the Orthodox faith. (See, for
example, D. Mendeleev’s statistical data. On Knowledge of Russia. Pp.
36-41, 48-49. By the beginning of the 20th century Russia counted
around 66% Orthodox population, around 17% non-Orthodox Christians, and around
17% non-Christian religions – some 5 million Jews and Turco-Tatar peoples.)
Here is why the spirit of Orthodoxy always defined and still defines so much
and so deeply the fabric of Russia’s
national creativity.

By
the gifts of Orthodoxy all Russian people have lived, have been educated, and
have found salvation over the course of centuries. They were all citizens of
the Russian Empire – both those who forgot these gifts and those who didn’t
notice them, renouncing and even blaspheming them; citizens belonging to other
Christian confessions; and other European peoples beyond Russia’s
borders.

We
would need an entire historical study for an exhaustive description of these
gifts. I can point to them only by a brief enumeration.

. . .

Orthodoxy brought
to the Russian people all the gifts of the Christian sense of justice – a
will to peace, brotherhood, justice, loyalty, and solidarity; a sense of
dignity and rank; a capability for self-control and mutual respect; in a
word, all that which can draw the state nearer to Christ’s commandments.

Orthodoxy nourished
in Russia
the sense of a citizen’s responsibility, that of an official before the
Tsar and God, and most of all it consolidated the idea of a monarch,
called and anointed, who would serve God. Thanks to that tyrannical rulers
in Russian history were a complete exception. All humane reforms in Russian
history were inspired or suggested by Orthodoxy.

Russian Orthodoxy
faithfully and wisely resolved a most difficult task with which Western Europe almost never coped – to find a
correct correlation between the Church and secular power, a mutual support
under mutual loyalty and non-encroachment.

Orthodox monastery
culture gave Russia
not only a host of righteous men. It gave her her chronicles, i.e. it set
a foundation for Russian historiography and Russian national
consciousness. Pushkin expressed it thus: “We are obliged to the monks for
our history, and consequently our enlightenment” (Pushkin’s “Historical
Notes,” 1822). We mustn’t forget that the Orthodox faith was long
considered the true criterion of “Russianness” in Russia.

The Orthodox
doctrine on the immortality of a person’s soul (lost in contemporary
Protestantism, interpreting “eternal life” not in the sense of immortality
of the soul, which is seen as mortal); on obedience to higher
authorities for the sake of one’s conscience; on Christian forbearance and
laying down one’s life “for one’s friends” gave the Russian Army all
the sources of its knightly, individually fearless, selflessly obedient
and all-conquering spirit, which developed in its historical wars and
especially in the teaching and practice of Aleksandr Suvorov – and was
often recognized by great captains of the enemy (Frederick the Great,
Napoleon, etc.).

All Russian art has
derived from the Orthodox faith, from the beginning nourishing within
itself its spirit of heartfelt contemplation, prayerful soaring, free
forthrightness, and spiritual responsibility (See Gogol’s “What,
Ultimately, is the Essence of Russian Poetry?” and “On the Lyricism of Our
Poets.” See my book Foundations of
Artistry. On the Perfect in Art.) Russian painting came from
the icon; Russian music was fanned by Church singing; Russian architecture
came from the mason-work of cathedrals and monasteries; the Russian
theatre was borne from the dramatic “acts” on religious themes; Russian
literature came from the Church and monastics.